Steve Staunton has warned Aston Villa not to get caught up with thoughts of progressing to Wembley as they’ve got an even bigger ‘cup final’ against Southampton on Saturday.

The 3-1 defeat to Bradford in the Capital One Cup semi-final first leg has left the claret and blues deflated but Staunton – nicknamed Stan – knows the feeling will be even worse should results go against them this weekend.

Villa are flirting just above the relegation zone with a slender one-point advantage over 18th-placed Wigan, who sit behind Southampton on goal difference.

Both teams have already beaten Villa this season, which is why Staunton feels this particular clash is as big as it comes for Paul Lambert’s men.

“The Capital One Cup is important but all thoughts must turn to Southampton now,” he said. “That game is like a cup final of its own.

“Southampton are right down there with Villa so they will know how big the game is.

“Villa can be in a strong position but it can easily go the other way and start to look bleak for them if they don’t start picking up results soon.

“The Capital One Cup is a nice distraction for them and it could have great rewards, but they must remember the importance of the league as well.”

Ex-Villa hero Staunton is on the backroom staff at Sunderland so he spends a lot of his time watching top-flight football.

This season, the 43-year-old has closely monitored his former side’s struggles and admits it is sad to see them languishing in the lower reaches of the Premier League.

He believes the injuries to a host of senior players has played its part in the disappointing first half of the season but also insists it is to be expected given the young average age of the squad.

“It’s been unfortunate for Villa this year because they have had key injuries to a lot of their senior players,’’ Staunton added.

“The only positive that Paul Lambert has got going for him is that a lot of the young lads came in together last year so they have got a little bit of experience from last year.

“They’re not completely fresh to the Premier League but if they were it would be considerably harder for him.

“With young players you are always going to get inconsistency, that’s the main problem.

“A lot has been said about Christian Benteke but he is only 21. People can get carried away too easily, they have to give these players time whether they like it or not.”

Having spent two seasons at the Stadium of Light Staunton also understands the difficult task of recruiting in the January transfer window.

“It’s easy to say they have to go and get experienced players in, and in an ideal world they probably would,’ he added.

“But there are plenty of factors. Does Paul want those type of players in? Is he confident he can get by with the group he’s got already?

“What we must remember is three league games does not define the season.

“The Chelsea, Tottenham and Wigan defeats were bad league games but they will stand the club in great stead for the future.

“Players learn more from defeats than they do from victories.

“They showed a lot of courage to get a draw at Swansea. Going to the Liberty Stadium is a tough place but they battled through it and came away with something when everyone had wrote them off.’’

Steve Staunton was talking ahead of this week’s Capital One Cup semi-final first leg ties. Find out more about the competition on the official website at www.capitalonecup.co.uk or join the debate on the semi-finals on Twitter @CapitalOne_Cup using the hashtag #CapitalOneCup.